Martha's House Interactive Art

About Martha's House Exhibit

The idea of Martha's House interactive hand painting in Okeechobee was to gather expressions about domestic violence, hope, love and the future.

The idea began in 2017 when Martha's House wanted to engage the visitors to our town during the 2017 Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival. They wanted to draw them to the Martha's House information booth to learn about Domestic Violence and about Martha’s House, but they wanted to learn from attendees also. Learn if and how Domestic Violence had impacted their lives. During the three days they offered the opportunity for attendees to express how they felt in their homes growing up using the paints provided and the palms of their hands. Each day they filled a canvas 8’ x 4’ with expression from rage and hurt, to love and hope. Of the three canvases collected, only one survives. It hangs in the Lodge at Sunshine Groves, the other two were destroyed by water during hurricane Irma.

Martha's House realized as the festival goers were expressing themselves that what was being created was an original work of art. The artists, each palm printer, were collaborating in a great community effort to express an idea. The work hanging in the Lodge is titled OMF 17: Self Portrait.

That experience showed Martha's House how powerful an expressive element hand painting with a theme can be. They wanted to document more, create more, and keep a theme central to each work.

The work titled In Touch with One’s Self was created by locals attending the County fair in 2017 with the same theme as the music festival. How did it feel in your home growing up?

Martha's Hosue received a great deal of positive feedback from these projects and thus continued them where ever they had group interactions. What you see in this exhibition is a majority of the works we have seen created by members of our community and by the people we serve. Each one has a theme, and each one an original collaborative expression. At the exhibit reception on Oct. 11, the visitor's also had the opportunity to express their feeling with handprints. The canvases are located in the display window at the exhibit.

For more information about Martha’s House go to www.marthashouse.org or call 863-763-2893.
24 HOUR HOTLINE: (863) 763-0202